Baboons as potential reservoirs of zoonotic gastrointestinal parasite infections at Yankari National Park, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND Zoonoses pose a risk to public health. OBJECTIVE To carry out the investigation of the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites of baboons, Papio anubis, frequenting the Wikki base Camp in Yankari National Park, Nigeria. METHOD Formol-ether concentration technique was used to isolate parasite eggs and cysts from faecal samples. RESULTS Parasites recovered were Ascaris lumbricoides, Ancylostoma duodenale, Strongyloides stercoralis, Fasciola sp, Schistosoma mansoni, Hymenolepis nana, and Trichostrongylus sp, and cysts of protozoan parasites Entomoeba histolytica, E. coli, and Iodamoeba butschii. CONCLUSION Most of the parasites identified are known to have high pathologic involvement in humans, implicating the baboons as potential source and reservoirs for human zoonotic parasitic infections although further molecular work would be necessary to ascertain if these gastrointestinal parasites are the same strains that infect humans.